Little owl is back

Our little owl Athene noctua is back!

Also see:
http://dolphinbiology.blogspot.it/2013/07/little-owl.html
http://dolphinbiology.blogspot.it/2013/09/bad-day.html

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Galaxidi, Greece)

Leaping out of gold

A striped dolphin leaps in the late evening.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

One of those magical moments

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Damselfish painting

Damselfish Chromis chromis in the port of Itea, Greece.

(Photo by M. Ferreira Da Silveira)

Hop

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Longliner at sea

The colourful wooden longliner by Iannis and Dimitris.

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Striped dolphins approaching

Striped dolphins of different ages approach our research boat and look at the people on board.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Silvia and Catarina

Silvia with our field assistant Ana Catarina Cardoso Fonseca. Catarina works for AIMM in Portugal.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Humpbacked striped dolphin

This "humpbacked" striped dolphin has been regularly encountered in the Gulf of Corinth since 2009, and photographed again yesterday.

(Photos by S. Bonizzoni)

Striped dolphin leap

A young striped dolphin performing an unusually high leap.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Gio and dolphin

Giovanni photographing a striped dolphin.

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Ampelos view 1

View from the island of Ampelos, overlooking the Bay of Antikyra.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Striped dolphins at sunrise

20 August 2014, 7:03 AM.

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Possible striped/common dolphin hybrid

This individual has a markedly intermediate pigmentation, overlapping the patterns typical of striped dolphins and short-beaked common dolphins. It is thought to be an intergeneric hybrid resulting from interbreeding between the two species (genus Delphinus and Stenella), though genetic analyses would be needed to confirm such hypothesis.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Bottlenose bowriding

A bottlenose dolphin bowrides a sailing boat approaching the port of Galaxidi.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

No dolphin is an island

Three bottlenose dolphins surface near the small island of Agios Dimitrios.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Newborn and calf

A newborn and a calf leap in unison. The newborn (left) looks like a pure striped dolphin. The larger calf (right) has a somewhat intermediate pigmentation, possibly due to a combination of striped and short-beaked common dolphin genes.

Calves and newborns are sometimes seen together, and occasionally they stay on their own while their mothers and other adults are diving further away. Such unwary behaviour may be a consequence of low predation risk in the Gulf of Corinth, where large sharks seem to be rare.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Beautiful eye

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Dolphin Biology People : Dagmar

Dagmar is a secondary school teacher of Biology and Chemistry in Erfurt, Germany. She holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Biology at the University of Wales, Swansea. She first came to Galaxidi in 2009, and since then she has been a regular project collaborator. Dagmar is a great photographer, as documented by several images posted on this blog. 

Dagmar is leaving today after spending three weeks with us in Galaxidi. She has been a valuable field assistant and a hard worker, both on the boat and at the office, where she matched thousands of dorsal fin images. We are grateful for her passionate way of collaborating with us, and for all the joy she shared.

Thank you Dagmar: we look forward to working with you again next year!

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Surprise and concern

The eye of this striped dolphin seems to express a mix of surprise and concern.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Silvia and dolphin

Silvia doing photo-identification of striped dolphins in the late evening.

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Before sunset

A striped dolphin breaches before sunset.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Shelter from the sun

Giovanni trying to shelter himself from the strong sunrays, towards the end of a 250-km long boat survey.

(Photo by D. Knäbel)

Porpoising

Striped dolphins "porpoising" in the Gulf of Corinth.

(Top photo by D. Knäbel, bottom photos by S. Bonizzoni)

Striped dolphin bowriding a fancy yacht

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Striped dolphin in water circle

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Silvia and Dagmar at sea 2

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Silvia and Dagmar at sea 1

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

White belly

A striped dolphin male shows his white belly.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Survey duo

Giovanni and Silvia coming back from a survey in the Gulf of Corinth.

(Photo by D. Knäbel)

Curley's baby

Striped dolphin nicknamed "Curley" (due to a floppy dorsal fin), here portrayed with her newborn calf.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Artisanal fisherman in Greece

(Photos by G. Bearzi, Itea, Greece)

Silvia and Dagmar

Silvia and Dagmar after a good survey.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Go the opposite way

A striped dolphin juvenile disliking the swimming directionaly of its own group.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Dagmar in action

Our field assistant Dagmar Knäbel photographing striped dolphins.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Unison

A striped dolphin adult and a juvenile surfacing in sync.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Social organization of striped dolphins in the Gulf of Corinth

A poster that is going to be presented by Heidi Pearson (Assistant Professor of Marine Biology, University of Alaska Southeast) at the 3rd International Marine Conservation Congress in Glasgow, U.K. (14-19 August 2014). This work contributes preliminary information on the social organization of striped dolphins in the Gulf of Corinth.

Click HERE to view a larger-size version of the poster.

Hideaway day

Ella and Virginia observe a rare short-beaked common dolphin.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Young photographer

Ella photographing a fish farm in the Bay of Antikira.

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Encountered at sea

Longline fishermen Dimitris and Iannis, encountered at sea, tell us the approximate size and directionality of the striped dolphins they saw earlier on.

(Photos by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Hideaway day

Stefania and Alberto snorkeling during a survey break.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Striped dolphin abundance in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

A poster that is going to be presented by DBC Research associate Nina Santostasi at the 3rd International Marine Conservation Congress in Glasgow, U.K. (14-19 August 2014).

This work defines the survey effort needed to obtain reliable estimates of striped dolphin population size in the Gulf of Corinth (out of one season of sampling). It also suggests that abundance of striped dolphins in this area may be greater than previously thought. Analyses aimed to assess dolphin population size in years 2011-2013 are currently in progress.

Click HERE to view a larger-size version of the poster.

Through water

As she surfaces, a young striped dolphin observes the researchers on board through a thin layer of water.

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Hideaway day

Stefania and Alberto with our field assistant Dagmar (and striped dolphins).

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Blue trio

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Wide angle

Giovanni photographing dolphins and people with a wide angle.

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Sleepy face

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Dolphin research trio

Mariana, Silvia and Giovanni during a survey break.

(Photo by D. Knäbel, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

MIDWAY a Message from the Gyre: a short film by Chris Jordan

Mariana's smile

Lovely Mariana left today after almost three months with us in Galaxidi. She is now on her way to Saudi Arabia and then her home country, Brasil. We already miss her smile and we look forward to the next chance of being together.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Dolphin mother and newborn in sync

Striped dolphin mother and newborn start to exhale before they surface in sync.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)